One tape, devoted solely to rock powerhouse KGB-AM, covers the late-1960s when the
station was locked in a battle with KCBQ for ratings supremacy in San Diego.

The company's catalog, which is tailored primarily for radio professionals, includes
thousands of tape samples of the latest programming trends at dozens of U.S. stations,
plus many videos of current disc jockeys, such as Paul "Cubby" Bryant at Z100 in
New York City and John Potter at WODS in Boston, working in the booth.

Like other branches of the entertainment industry, radio has its own roster of stars
(Wolfman Jack, B. Mitchell Reed) known in the business for distinct on-air patter and
flawless execution.

So who better for program directors, up-and-coming disc jockeys and broadcast-school
students to absorb and emulate than the masters, then and now, of the Top 40 genre?

California Aircheck's service "is very important, because radio's history has not
been documented," says Johnny Hayes, a former disc jockey at KGB who now works the
afternoon shift at oldies station KRTH-FM in Los Angeles. "Tapes of airchecks can be
very beneficial to young people in the business."

Radio enthusiasts who tap into California Aircheck's deep audio repository "get
lots of ideas . . . They hear something important they can use later on the
air," notes Junak, who has worked at 91-X and several other California stations.

Junak promotes his enterprise through ads in trade journals such as Radio and Records
and at a Web site.

He notes that a small percentage of his customers are radio fans who grew up, like him,
with an ear stuck to a radio speaker tuned to rock outlets such as KRLA-AM and KFWB-AM.

Junak, who runs his business out of his house with the assistance of his wife, started
selling radio tapes in 1980.

Many of the tapes were compiled from recordings he made off the radio as a teen-ager
while living in Los Angeles in the 1960s -- a time many in the industry believe was a
golden age for on-air creativity. Other tapes were derived from collections of
acquaintances of his in the business.

Junak obtains material for his vast tape library by traveling every three months or so
to one of the 25 top radio markets in the country to record programming from six to eight
stations.

Junak nevertheless turns out about 600 tape copies a month for 400 subscribers on a
bank of 15 cassette recorders in his home office.

Most music on the tapes is edited out, leaving just the verbal thunder of premier disc
jockeys at the height of their powers.

"Right now, I think Z100 (in New York) is one of the most innovative stations in
the United States," he says.

Junak says business at California Aircheck reached a plateau last year as consolidation
in the radio industry cut into demand for his product. It seems executives at
conglomerates like Jacor have begun recording and exchanging broadcast tapes from within
their own networks.

Junak, however, says there will always be a market for the classic radio broadcasts
from the days when the Beatles, the Four Seasons and the Temptations sat atop KGB-AM's
"Boss 30."

"I've got dozens of boxes of tapes I haven't even started editing yet," he
says.